


Alphabet Soup

by were1993



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, every and any au/trope i feel like
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-10-15 13:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were1993/pseuds/were1993
Summary: We start with F for First Kiss and then Y for Why Not.A drabble series without any point or organization because those noodles never spell out anything that makes sense—and to be honest, life doesn’t quite make sense either.





	1. F for First Kiss

**F for First Kiss**

Seventeen-year-old Mingyu wants their first kiss to be something special. 

Maybe underneath some fireworks or underneath an abnormally clear night sky. Or—or maybe underneath the slide of their old neighborhood park where Mingyu first met Minghao at the age of seven.

When he props his chin on Minghao’s shoulder, Mingyu resists the urge just to lean over and plant one on those cute lips. When Minghao does that thing where he looks at Mingyu—really _looks_ at Mingyu with those bright eyes, Mingyu resists the urge just to lean forward and just kiss him.

He’s been very good so far, and Mingyu takes pride in his unusual restraint.

His boyfriend—heh, Mingyu repeats it to himself, _his boyfriend_ —is a romantic. Minghao likes candle lights, flower bouquets, and fairy lights strung on empty wine bottles. Minghao talks about wandering old cities and climbing the Eiffel Tower. Minghao might have a slight obsession with Paris right now, but is that not the most romantic city in the world? 

Ideally, Mingyu would take Minghao atop the Eiffel Tower and kiss him for the first-time underneath fireworks, but they’re seventeen. 

Mingyu will take Minghao to Paris one day, but he’d like to kiss his boyfriend—his _boyfriend_ —before they’re old. Like before they’re twenty-five.

He tells Minghao this, and Minghao rolls his eyes.

Minghao does that thing where he looks, really _looks_ at Mingyu again—like Mingyu is the only person in the world—and says:

“Anywhere with you is special.” 

Remember, Minghao is the ultimate romantic in their relationship. If Mingyu were better at this, he would have reached over to hold the other’s hand or maybe say something over the top cheesy. 

He could have said or done _anything_ else, but Kim Mingyu chooses at that moment to lean forward and smash their nose together in the most uncoordinated kiss ever. If that quick touch of the lips could even be called a kiss. 

“Ow!” Mingyu yelps, springing back at the sour feeling from the impact. He raises his chin and pinches his nose, willing the hurt away.

“I’m the one who should be upset,” Minghao says dryly. His voice is nasally, and Mingyu peeks down at his boyfriend. Yep, Minghao is pinching his nose too, looking much more amused than upset. “You said you wanted our first kiss to be atop the Eiffel Tower and then you head-butted me.” 

“I’m sowwy!” Mingyu whines through his blocked nose. He tilts his chin back down, so they’re eye to eye again. “It was an asuedent!”

“Uh-huh,” Minghao hums with a raised eyebrow and hands still covering his nose. 

They lock eyes, and they look ridiculous, clutching their own noses only a foot apart. Mingyu automatically clamps his hand over his mouth to stifle the giggles, and Minghao must have realized it at the same time because he does the same. 

Shaking in silent laughter, Mingyu refuses to be the first person to laugh out loud. Apparently, Minghao is now stubbornly competing against him. So they sit there, knocking knees and smacking each other with their free hands. 

Neither willing to admit defeat—okay, Mingyu loses. 

Unable to hold it any longer, Mingyu bursts out in gasping laughter, and then Minghao laughs at _him_. But Minghao kisses away his pout so who’s to say Mingyu didn’t also win?

\------

**F for Future**

“It’s cold up here,” Mingyu grumbles, stuffing his hands deeper into his coat pockets.

“It’s February,” Minghao shrugs. He turns to his husband to adjust the other’s scarf before returning his attention to his smartphone. Minghao tries to frame the shot again, but ah, he lost that perfect angle.

“I can’t believe you _still_ think this is romantic somehow,” Mingyu continues to grumble, squinting into the camera. He pouts, and the wrinkles around his mouth sink deeper. “It’s cold, and I swear my joints are going to freeze in place.”

“I wish your mouth would freeze too.”

“ _Myungho!_ ”

Ignoring the other’s dramatics, Minghao smiles and adjust his glasses. Without them, he can’t see Paris spread out below them. To be honest, he can’t see much of the city horizon anymore, but his glasses can still provide a good view of Champ de Mars down below.

Ah, the cons of getting old. Well, at least smartphone camera quality has improved vastly.

“If you don’t take your picture now, I’m going to freeze to death, and you’re going to have an ice statue as your husband for the rest of your years.”

“If you stopped moving, we would have finished quite a while ago.”

“Oh, _if you stopped—_ ”

“Can you act your age for once, Kim Mingyu?”

Other tourists mill around them, and a few of them chuckle in their direction. Minghao stifles an embarrassed giggle. It must be an interesting sight to see two old Asian men bickering while trying to take a selfie.

There’s a little more side shuffling, camera angling, and expression schooling, but Minghao successfully gets that selfie he wanted. He looks at the picture fondly. The same angle and framing as the one he took when they first came to Paris at the 'old age' of twenty-five and then at thirty-two and then at forty and then—well, many more times after.

Even though Minghao is sixty-seven this year, he’s still as enamored with Paris as he was at seventeen.

“ _Myungho!_ What about _me?_ I’ll let you know that—”

Minghao laughs and slides his hand into Mingyu’s coat pocket, feeling for the other’s wedding band. He leans in and presses a quick kiss against the other’s cold lips. Mingyu stops mid-sentence and flushes, smiling ear to ear. 

“If I had known a kiss was all it would have taken, I would have shut you up hours ago.” 

Mingyu’s smile falls back into a pout. Their kids say it’s not cute, but Minghao still thinks it’s quite charming. 

“Can’t you just say I love you like a normal person?” Mingyu asks deadpan. He tries to maintain his upset face, but the corners of his lips curl upwards. He knows he’s going to get what he wants. 

So Minghao indulges Mingyu—as he always has—and leans in to kiss his husband again. 

Even though it’s been fifty years, Minghao is still as enamored with Mingyu as he was at seventeen.

\------

Next: Y for Why Not


	2. Y for Why Not?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y for Why Not?
> 
> Mingyu agrees to a navel piercing and wonders why.
> 
> /
> 
> Y for Yesteryear.
> 
> Minghao has always had piercing, even when they first met.

**Y for Why Not**

Mingyu likes his housemate, Lee Jihoon. 

For as standoffish as he can appear to be, Jihoon cares in his own way. The older college student usually likes to work in his own room, but if Mingyu’s having a particularly bad day, Jihoon will carry his laptop out into the living room, giving Mingyu the chance to rant away. 

Usually what happens: Mingyu talks and talks and whines and talks while Jihoon works on his laptop, nodding and occasionally humming an acknowledgment. 

Today, Jihoon has completely abandoned his work and is staring at him with the most unimpressed look. Mingyu flops face first into the couch to avoid the other’s judgmental eyes. 

“You’re so fucking whipped,” Jihoon says, jabbing Mingyu’s unprotected side with the pointy side of his stylus— _hyung!_ “You almost fainted last time you got an IV drip. How are you going to get a navel piercing?” 

“I don’t know,” Mingyu groans into the couch cushion. “I don’t know. Myungho said he wanted, no, _needed_ me—” 

“I am not going to listen to you talk about how your boyfriend fucks you,” Jihoon frowns. 

“ _I wasn’t going to!_ ” Mingyu yelps, sitting up on the couch immediately. He crosses his arms in front of his chest, jutting out his lower lip. “I was going to say he needed me to _accompany_ him to the piercing studio and thought it would be cool if I got a piercing too—like a bellybutton piercing.”

“And you just agreed,” Jihoon says deadpan, raising an eyebrow.

“I kind of shrugged and said _why not_ ,” Mingyu says nonchalantly. Jihoon raises both eyebrows. “Okay, he told me I’d look hot with one, and he doesn’t really say that! He always says I’m cute or like a puppy, but this time he said I’d look _hawt_ —”

“Well, I guess this is better than drugs,” Jihoon mumbles. He turns back to his laptop to resume his work, and the day continues per norm.

 ------

**Y for Yesteryear**

Minghao got his ears pierced as a baby because of a family tradition with unknown origins. 

He’s had his earrings for as long as he could remember, and he likes fiddling with them—he knows he shouldn’t, but they’re nice and round in between his tiny fingers. His mom figured larger ball studs would be easier so Minghao could just grow into them, but, as a small child with protruding ears, the earrings end up standing out a lot.

While his father assures his son that he could take them off whenever he wanted, Minghao kind of likes his earrings. He’s not allowed to wear them to school, but Minghao puts them on immediately after school.

Minghao is seven-years-old when some older kids started making fun of his earrings on the playground. 

“He thinks he’s all that just ‘cause his ears are pierced.” 

“You’re not that cool.” 

“Those are really ugly earrings. _Ew_.”

Minghao doesn’t really mind the other comments, but they’re making fun of the earrings his mom picked out for him! 

Seven-year-old Minghao is small for his age, and those playground bullies are at least nine. Even so, Minghao wasn’t about to let the four of them get away with saying bad things about the earrings his mom picked out.

Looking back, Minghao realizes tripping them with a strategically thrown handful of marbles probably wasn’t the best idea, but even as he flees from the large nine-year-olds, he doesn’t regret it. 

Minghao zips around the playground, crawling through play tunnels and skidding down slides on his feet.He’s a lot faster, and they’re no match for him. 

Minghao had just ducked underneath the slide when he hears a loud voice.

“Hey, knock it off!” 

Peering around the stairs leading up the slide, Minghao recognizes the other kid. He sees him occasionally around, but they play in different parts of the playground. Minghao likes the tall slides and monkey bars, but the other kid seems to like the crawl tunnels more. 

“Kim Mingyu, it’s none of your business!” one of the nine-year-olds yells.

“You’re being mean and chasing someone!” the other kid, Mingyu, yells back, standing protectively in front of a group of younger girls. Minghao thinks one of them is Mingyu’s younger sister. “You’re scaring the other kids!” 

“It’s his fault!” 

“Just ‘cause he has earrings?!” 

“They’re ugly!” 

“Well, I think they’re pretty!”

“Pretty ugly!” 

“Don’t be mean!” Mingyu shouts with his chest puffing out. “I—I’ll tell your mom that you’re being mean to other kids on the playground!” 

“Don’t be a tattletale!”

“I’d rather be a tattletale than a bully!” Mingyu declares. The rest of the playground stops to watch what would happen next. Minghao hears loud whispers of the other kids, and they’re all siding with Mingyu. 

“Kim Mingyu, I’m going easy on you ‘cause we go to the same church!” a nine-year-old says. He starts pulling his friends back, and they leave with angry scowls. 

Minghao leans against the downward slope of the slide and giggles. He could have taken them, but he likes that Mingyu said his earrings were pretty. They are. His mom picked them out for him! 

“Hey, uh, hi.” 

Minghao looks up, and the other jumps back startled. Minghao almost bursts out laughing at the other’s surprised face, but he holds it in. He’s kind of a cool kid. A cool kid with pretty earrings. 

“Hey,” Minghao says casually back. 

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asks. 

“Yeah,” Minghao answers and watches Mingyu wobble side to side. 

“Uh, well, um, I’m Mingyu,” Mingyu says. 

“I know,” Minghao answers, and Mingyu looks like a cute fish, trying to find his next words. Minghao tries not toå smile too hard, but his cheeks hurt already. 

“And, uh, I know I said—well I think you heard me, but I really do, um, I think, well, I think your earrings are pretty,” Mingyu rambles. His cheeks flush pink. “You look cool with earrings, uh, they’re just je-jaelous ‘cause everyone on the playground thinks you’re kind of cool and yeah. I also think you’re cool, so uh, wanna be friends?” 

“Okay,” Minghao answers, and the rest is history.

 _Fourteen years later…_  

“I’m dying,” Mingyu laments. 

“You’ll be okay,” Minghao says. 

“I have a hole in my stomach,” Mingyu says deadpan, pointing at his bellybutton. 

“Called your enormous appetite,” Minghao teases. Mingyu puffs his cheeks out in annoyance at not being taken seriously, but he still reaches over to thread their fingers together. “You know you didn’t have to do it.” 

“I know, but I wanted to,” Mingyu says simply as though he hadn’t spent the entire day whining about the navel piercing. “Wait, what if it gets infected? What if I die from this?” 

“Just remember what they told you and take care of it properly with _clean_ hands,” Minghao says. “If you get confused, just ask your roommate.”

“My roommate? Jihoon-hyung?” Mingyu frowns. “Why?”

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Minghao asks. “He has nipple piercings.”

“WHAT.”  

 ------

Next: I for U

 ------

Deleted Scenes

“Are you okay?” twenty-one-year-old Minghao asks.

“Yeah,” Mingyu answers, lying on his back. His voice is high and wobbly, and he’s looking everywhere except for the prepping piercer.

“You don’t have to get it, you know?” Minghao says. “We can just skip to my—”

“I want to!” Mingyu says forcefully, finally looking at Minghao. “I’m totally on board, and I’m not scared! I’m not scared right now!”

“I know,” Minghao answers with an exasperated smile. Mingyu goes back staring resolutely at the ceiling, and Minghao tries not to smile too hard.

“I’m really not scared right now, and I’m not scared of needles,” Mingyu starts rambling. “I’m sure it’ll be just like a flu shot. Just a pinch, right? It’ll be okay and I’m not worried about anything. It’s like piercing your ears right? Myungho, you got your ears pierced when you were a baby and—”

“Well, if you’re not scared, should we start?” the piercer asks.

“Myungho,” Mingyu whispers, staring at his boyfriend with pleading eyes. “Wanna hold my hand?”

“Okay,” Minghao answers, and the rest is—well, Mingyu might have cried a little, but Minghao kissed it better. Well, in 6 weeks.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO so hi, im back. pls don't expect this speed to continue lmao
> 
> the first three F for First Kiss/Future, Y for Why Not/Yesteryear, and I for U/??? are in the same universe. So we got to see them as dumb teens/old men, college students/lil kids, and i wonder what's next~ 
> 
> (hint: its tooth-rotting)
> 
> The deleted scene is how I originally meant to end it but then thought it was too much--i like whiny/pouty gyu a little too much lmao. I have a shit ton of "deleted scenes" from all my fics...Would y'all like to see more of these "deleted scenes" or just...keep to the story? LMAO 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3 <3 <3
> 
> Eat well, rest well, be well~


	3. D for Distrust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D for Distrust 
> 
> “You forget who I am,” Minghao says and watches with some satisfaction as Mingyu’s eyes widen. “I’ll find out eventually.”
> 
> /
> 
> D for Destiny
> 
> Mingyu hadn’t been prepared when he met Minghao again, accidentally knocking him over in the grocery aisle.

**D for Distrust**

“I can’t say,” Mingyu chokes, meeting Minghao’s gaze stubbornly. 

Minghao laughs loudly and without humor. Only Mingyu can be this honest yet lie at the same time. Only Mingyu can lie through his teeth and then convey everything else through his stupidly transparent face— _you’ll be in danger if you know and I don’t want to put you in danger._

A part of Minghao wants to hate Mingyu for keeping him in the dark, but another part is so effortlessly charmed. To think a mere human is worried about an _immortal being_.

How many eons has it been since someone had fretted over Minghao’s safety? He who was born with the first light of the universe. He who is the most powerful being here on this planet they now call Earth. He who will never die unless on his own volition. Who would spend any energy worrying about—Minghao winces.

He can think of one. One who was also tall and stupid and affectionate. Minghao presses his lips into a thin line even as his heart flutters—he always seems to fall for the same type, doesn’t he?

“You forget who I am,” Minghao says and watches with some satisfaction as Mingyu’s eyes widen. “I’ll find out eventually.”

“No! You can’t!” Mingyu blurts out. “I won’t let you get hurt again because I—” 

Mingyu cuts himself off quickly and stares adamantly at the floor. 

“Again?” Minghao asks.

“Um, yeah, like that time, uh, when Jihoon-hyung misunderstood and you got caught up in that mess and got hurt,” Mingyu rambles, scratching the back of his head. He still refuses to meet Minghao’s gaze. “Yeah, this is just something really stupid and I mean, it’s best if you just don’t know.”

“You’re hiding something, Kim Mingyu,” Minghao states. “And I’m going to find out what.”

“Do you really need to know everything about me?” Mingyu asks lightly. He finally looks up and his expression isn’t what Minghao expected. Minghao expected anger or annoyance or even that stupid teasing smile, but Mingyu just looks tired. “Why can’t you just accept that I like you and leave it at that?”

Minghao doesn’t try to fight color that rises on his cheeks. He likes that Mingyu likes him—and somewhere deep inside, Minghao likes Mingyu too—but Mingyu seems to know too much about him.

From their first meeting, Minghao has felt like he should know Mingyu better than he does. Even though they started out as complete strangers, Mingyu wormed his way into Minghao’s life so effortlessly, and Minghao doesn’t understand how.

And while he finds it sweet that Mingyu wants to protect him from whatever danger he thinks is out there, Minghao cannot shake off the weird dichotomy between Mingyu’s open affection and stubborn secrecy. 

He wants to know everything there is to know about Mingyu. He wants to embrace Mingyu’s heartfelt declarations and intertwine their fingers together without worry, but first, he needs to be able to trust Mingyu. 

Minghao trusts Mingyu’s affections—even if he’s baffled by them, but he doesn’t know if he can trust anything else. 

Mingyu seemingly appeared out of nowhere and rooted himself so deeply into Minghao’s day to day life. And it was only after their meeting did all the strange things around the city began happening. 

Minghao likes Mingyu, but he loves this city and its people more.

He’s only chosen someone over his own duties once, and that person ended up dying for it. Never again will he act so rashly. 

Minghao will only compromise, but he needs to know whether Mingyu is someone he can trust. Right now, Xu Minghao cannot trust Kim Mingyu.

\--- 

**D for Destiny**

For the first time in his cycles of reincarnation, Mingyu had hesitated to return to that land again. This would be one of his first lifetimes where he could live life as he wished—being born into a time of peace with loving parents is a blessing—but he hesitated. 

He could finally chase after Minghao and embrace the immortal tightly and explain everything he left unsaid that day, _none of it was your fault, I died for you not because of you_. Mingyu wanted to replace his last image of Minghao, face twisted in agony and screaming his past name, and he wanted to replace Minghao’s last memory of him as well.

Mingyu hoped Minghao remembers more of their sweet kisses and nonsense conversations, smiling and laughing and happy—not him bleeding to death at the steps of the alter that should have blessed their union. 

This is what drove him to return. He fears Minghao still blames himself, and their happy memories were overridden by the pain of how they parted. 

Within a week, Mingyu applied to a job and moved to the city. At first, he worried whether Minghao would be there and how he would find the elusive immortal, but he shouldn’t have worried.

 _My sister, Fate, has not been kind to you, but I am Destiny. I will try to help you as much as I can._  

Mingyu hadn’t been prepared when he met Minghao again, accidentally knocking him over in the grocery aisle.   

Minghao looked the same as he did six thousand years ago—elegant, refined, and effortlessly beautiful—and the moment Mingyu laid eyes on that achingly familiar figure, he forgot why he didn’t come back sooner.

“You’re still gorgeous,” Mingyu said, helping the other up. Minghao looked at him with a bemused smile, and Mingyu remembered—ah, of course, how would Minghao recognize him? He no longer looked like how he did six thousand years ago.

“Do I know you?” Minghao had asked, shaking off Mingyu’s hand. 

“Uh, no,” Mingyu swallowed. He put on his most charming smile and hoped his faked confidence would tide him over as a confident flirt. “But we could get to know each other, handsome stranger.” 

Minghao regarded him with wary eyes.

“Kim Mingyu,” he introduced himself and held out a hand. Mingyu fully expected to be brushed aside. After all, six thousand years ago, Minghao had walked past him without sparing him a glance for years.

“Seo Myungho,” Minghao greeted cautiously. He took Mingyu’s hand in a firm shake before letting go, but Mingyu couldn’t let go. Not yet. Not when he finally has Minghao here. “Excuse me?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mingyu apologized sheepishly, letting go of the other’s hand reluctantly. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope to see you around then.”

“For some reason,” Minghao said, giving him a contemplating look. Mingyu tried to squash the hope bubbling in his chest. He knew Minghao didn’t recognize him, but maybe—just maybe. “For some reason, I feel like I will see you around. I guess, next time then, Kim Mingyu.”

And Mingyu dared to let himself hope that maybe, just maybe this was their second chance.

(Mingyu should have known better. Six thousand years ago, Fate didn’t want them together. Why did he think Fate would allow them happiness now? 

He will not let Fate hurt Minghao a second time. At least—Mingyu smiles wistfully—Minghao doesn’t recognize him nor does he like Kim Mingyu. This time, he won’t let Minghao get hurt.

Even if he dies again, so be it. Next lifetime, Mingyu won’t hesitate to chase after Minghao. After all, Destiny is on their side.)

\------

Next: ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally just a lot of rambling 'cause I've been sucked into this whole destiny/fate/reincarnation trope lately lmao and so here. XD
> 
> I've always wanted to see the one where the immortal doesn't recognize the other while the mortal going thro the reincarnations ends up chasing after the immortal. Weird lil idea.
> 
> I love these things a lot but I don't have a very cohesive story plot behind it so here's a small tidbit of a conversation that was going through my head. 
> 
> I'm so tired lmao so please forgive any odd grammar. I'll fix it all later.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> So I just wanted to write gyuhao without fretting over character development, setting, theme, plot, timeline, reality LMAO. I just wanted to write gyuhao in any form that comes to mind. 
> 
> These are not beta'ed. They're not going to be super thought out (some of them might be just downright bad lmao) and the writing might be ridiculously sloppy. This is basically just me hemorrhaging all my gyuhao thoughts onto the internet haha.
> 
> I am working on some larger projects that will see the light of day...eventually lmao, but for now, enjoy this alphabet soup of gyuhao~ 
> 
> Eat well, rest well, be well~


End file.
